The only one you're fooling with that comment is yourself; you have learned nothing and ignore nothing and even create "something out of nothing" when no one ever said it and it doesn't exist except in your active imagination. The biggest "snowflake" on the board is, in fact, you, and you wouldn't recognize "reality" if it lived on your face. :)

ANYONE who has to research someone's private life and attack innocent family members as a response to political differences is a LUSER of the highest order and doesn't merit ANYTHING other than a kick to the curb....

But enough about Trump. Trump too shall pass.

See what I did there??? :D

Yes, you continued to lie about other posters you know little about as you constantly do and then morphed into whiny little bitch snowflake victim because you sure know how to dish it up, but you can't take it. :) *LOL*

Yea, it's an I and to end the italics is a /I....

Actually, I see no problem with using capitalization for emphasis, but I'm such a nice guy that I regret offending Mr. Hypersensitivity

Yea, I comment like I talk.. If I am going to EMPHASIZE a word spoken, then I'll capitalize it written...

I have learned to ignore when the snowflakes get offended because I know that it is SOLELY based on their Party slavery and bigotry and has nothing to do with facts or reality...

(although I don't give a damn about Ms. Hypersensitivity, she doesn't merit any damns)

Oh, don't get me started there..

ANYONE who has to research someone's private life and attack innocent family members as a response to political differences is a LUSER of the highest order and doesn't merit ANYTHING other than a kick to the curb....

See what I did there??? :D

Thanx, but I don't understand that bold-face thing between the word "than" and the word "greater"? Is that just a capital 'I'?

Actually, I see no problem with using capitalization for emphasis, but I'm such a nice guy that I regret offending Mr. Hypersensitivity (although I don't give a damn about Ms. Hypersensitivity, she doesn't merit any damns)

If you want to use italics, here's how..

Put a LESS THAN I GREATER THAN before your italicized text and a LESS THAN /I GREATER THAN after the italicized text...

Yeah, I am indeed being "real picky" (not to mention pedantic) in striving to differentiate between 'exchange units' (money) and 'real wealth' (potatoes, equities,
factories and appendectomies, {that last one a proxy for 'services'}), and I have a valid (though futile) motivation for doing so.

As a professional 'hobby' economist, I learned years ago that the inability of most people (and ALL Dems/Libs) to realize and understand that difference is what leads them to drawing so many totally fallacious conclusions about how the real world actually works.

Economic policy analysis is totally impossible for folks who recognize no difference whatsoever between society's medium of exchange (money) and it's real wealth (the potatoes, equities, factories and appendectomies).

Remember when you actually had FACTS to support your arguments rather than just Party slavery and bigotry??

Once again, you attack the guy with the -R after his name, when it was a guy with a -D after his name.. :^/

I WOULDN'T call your cousins 'productive. Clearly, their inherited capital is whats productive. But capital (savings) clearly IS productive, probably far more productive than most unskilled labor. Whether the cousins are or ar not "deserving" represents a value judgement I prefer not to make.

The fact that capital gains are taxed at lower rates represents society's collective judgement that it is to our collective benefit to encourage savings and investment, plus the fact that savings, unlike humans, never retire and consequently do not need a pension or medical care.

Re your [50] I likely couldn't figure out this site's FAQ, especially since I don't know what FAQ is, but I'll strive to hold the caps to a MIN - er, I mean a 'minimum'!

Actually, I think you are right - it was Buffet. Romney paid 14% on his millions for similar reasons.

There is a tips page on this site's FAQ:

http://www.chrisweigant.com/faq/#FAQ09

You know you're being really picky here. Whatever you need to get thru the day, as Michale always reminds me ;)

No money whatsoever currently in my investment acct - only stocks and a single Gov't bond. Those assets all obviously have a (fluctuating) current market value expressible in monetary units, but they are all currently 'real wealth', not 'money'!

No, I don't remember that Romney episode. Actually, I think it was Warren B., the "Oracle of Omaha" and his secretary.

Yet you were talking about your $300K investments recently and how they had been eroded by inflation. Hmm.

It doesn't offend me, it just makes me think you are getting hysterical. Don't be the hysterical guy, we already have one of those (who cut/pastes screeds in bold and goes wild with exclamation points, all caps, etc.).

Rich folk's kids getting subsidized money from family members is not comparable to what normal people actually earn from the sale of their time and talents. That's just more non sequitur on your part.

My cousins were left millions by their grandmother when she passed. The invested it wisely. They are doing very well (Horse Farms in Portugal sort of well). They don't get taxed on income but capital gains - this is very good for them, as not only do they not have to work, the money they get is taxed at about 1/2 what it would be if they earned it.

They are the first to admit they are lucky and haven't done much, beyond having the right family. Yet they earn many more times my income (not that I care, good luck to them).

Why would you call them productive and deserving of their wealth when even they don't?

I NEVER do anything "allcaps". That post had 11 words capitalized out of approx 165. Sorry if it offends you. I only do it 'cause I don't know how to italicize, and it's therefore the only way I can think of to emphasize. Maybe someday when my grandkids come for a visit, I'll get 'em to teach me.

Your [42]

Rich folk's kids getting subsidized money from family members is not comparable to what normal people actually earn from the sale of their time and talents. That's just more non sequitur on your part.

Your [37] (My pedantic nit-picking)

I'd cheerfully send you all my money if I thought it would straighten out all your many mis-comprehensions ABOUT money, but I consider that to be a lost cause.

Right this moment "all my money" would be $66 plus a handful of change in the ashtray of my car, and that's only because about 45 min ago I cashed the $60 check that a neighbor gives me monthly for renting my pasture for her horse. I'm pretty much a credit card guy who never has much money.

I have a modest stock portfolio, and my house, and a 7yr-old Toyota, but not enough money to talk about, however, if you let me know when you get your mind wrapped around the reality of what money and wealth really are, let me know, and I'll send you "all my money". Try to do it around this time of the month, 'cause I'm sending it postage collect, and if I haven't just cashed my pasture-rent check, it likely wont be enough $ to cover the postage.

No.

A random billionaire's 10 year old kid probably made more money last year than most Americans do in their lifetimes.

While s/he was at school.

I have relatives whose young kids earn more than most Americans I know.

Care to rethink?

*LOL* :)

Who was it that said Michale doesn't understand economics in depth?

Oh, yes, Michale did ;)

(Reuters) - A second U.S. judge on Tuesday blocked President Donald Trump’s decision to end a program that protects immigrants brought to the United States illegally as children from deportation.

https://tinyurl.com/yal9f7fa

The ALLCAPS don't make you convincing, they make you come across as somebody who emits spittle when they can't cope with reality.

Are you that uncle that everybody in America is worried will come to Thanksgiving?

Websters is using a 1990 definition of proxy. In current business terms it means an alternative signal.

Thus having a lot of money is a proxy for wealth - and one that most people accept. If you don't equate money with wealth you are welcome to send me all of your money, but I'll bet your pedantic nitpicking will disappear when it comes to your own money.

Remember when Romney was embarrassed that his tax rate was lower than his secretary?

Capital gains are taxed at a much lower rate than income. This is because the rich have bought politicians to pass laws that are good for the rich. Corporations do the same thing. It is only the regular American who doesn't have a politician, lobbyists, and a bucket of cash tilting the system in their favor.

Also, economics is rife with "winner take all" situations, and so it is not unusual for steep differences in remuneration based on small differences in value. That is why we have a progressive tax system.

Meanwhile, while Dumbocrats concentrate on their deluded fantasies..

The GOP is making it so they own the mid-terms.. :D

It's all racism!! It has to be racism!! Or maybe sexism!!

Yea!! Sexism and racism!!

Dumbocrat Party staples!!! :D

"The top 5% are getting all the increases in wealth".

Regardless of who is getting whatever "increases in wealth" are being produced, whether it be the rich, the poor, the tall, the short, the greedy or the generous, I'm guessing it's going to be whoever makes the most valuable contribution toward the creation of those increases, as decreed by the marketplace (law of supply and demand), would it not?

Or do you think that somehow whoever does get those raises has somehow rigged the market, in order to steal the increases from some other person or group?

Apparently Black Lives *DON'T* matter when the death is at the hands of a Democrat donor...

Dumbocrats :^/

John Kelly claims he axed the staff secretary immediately after learning of domestic-abuse allegations. The bureau’s director just called that into question.
__________

FBI Director Christopher Wray on Tuesday contradicted the White House timeline of how it handled—or didn’t—domestic-abuse allegations against former staff secretary Rob Porter.

During a Senate intelligence hearing on Tuesday, Wray testified that the FBI informed the White House as early as March 2017 about at least some of the findings of a background check on Porter as part of his security-clearance application.

During an exchange with Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Wray was asked whether the bureau's background investigation and its findings could affect Porter's security clearance for working in the White House.

“I can’t get into the content of what was briefed,” Wray initially said.

Wyden pressed: “Were they informed?”

Wray responded by laying out a timeline of the FBI’s actions that is fairly damning to the White House’s public declarations about the way they handled the situation.

“What I can tell you is that the FBI submitted a partial report on the investigation in question in March, and then a completed background investigation in late July, that is—soon thereafter we received requests for a follow-up inquiry, and we did the follow-up, and provided that information in November,” Wray said.

https://tinyurl.com/y8zgxfbj
__________

The FBI regrets to inform you that Trump and his White House personnel are liars. Interesting how the truth will out when under penalty of perjury.

You're right!

Republicans are fiscal maniacs AND fiscal idiots AND fiscally irresponsible.

Much better!

You're right!

"Republicans are fiscal maniacs AND fiscal idiots AND fiscally irresponsible"

Much better!

Re Money being a "proxy" for wealth. The concept is ludicrous. "Proxy - a person or thing which acts for another", (Websters New Collegiate).

You can't eat it, so it ain't much of a "proxy" for food. You can (normally, but NOT invariably) EXCHANGE it for food, which is why it's referred to as a "medium of Exchange". It's (under only normal circumstances) a MEASURE of wealth, but NO RATIONAL PERSON would describe money as a PROXY for real wealth, (normally defined as goods/services capable of being consumed.)

But don't let that dissuade YOU from doing so. That "no rational person" thing sort of grants you license to keep right on keeping right on!

I'd forgotten about that one - they had the Texas National Guard shadowing the U.S. Military in case Obama was going to usher in our U.N. overlords or something like that.

Correct... except it was the Texas State Guard. The Texas Army National Guard actually had some members who were part of the military drill... and laughed their asses off at the gullibility of the right-wing sycophants and the Alex Jones entertainer of Austin utter nonsensical conspiracy bullshit:

1. First, Jones invented theories surrounding an otherwise routine military exercise.

2. The theories were repeated by characters like Gohmert, Cruz and Abbott, thus mainstreaming what ought to have been merely the mad ramblings of a talk-radio carnival barker.

3. Then, Jones quoted the politicians as insiders and top-level officials, which projects to his audience a patina of authenticity and legitimacy to the original theory.

4. Return to #1 and repeat.

This is where the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party has landed: backstopping ludicrous tall tales marketed by a known flim-flam artist who's earning a fortune by cynically exploiting the naïveté and paranoia of his listeners.

https://www.salon.com/2015/05/20/how_alex_jones_deranged_jade_helm_conspiracy_became_an_unstoppable_monster/

That about sums it up... very nicely too. Have y'all ever noticed how all the bullshit has one thing in common? They tell their gullible minions that they're "insiders."

Oh, they're "insiders" alright... deep inside the bubble with their heads up their proverbial asses.

The right wing are out to lunch and have taken the gullible with them. Let's hope the lesson that the young people in this country are learning is that education and voting are important.

Right you are, sir, and it's going to get more painfully obvious; let's just hope it's sooner rather than later. :)

Oooooooo puulleeeeeze........

Neil discovered 'non sequitor' reasoning a long time ago.. I can pinpoint for you the EXACT day...

9 Nov 2016... :D

The function of money in making markets work more efficiently is its basic function, that of being a "medium of exchange" and has ZERO to do with its 'fungibility'. There is no such thing as 'Non-fungible money'. Non-fungible money couldn't even serve as a 'medium of exchange'!! The very concept of non-fungible money represents egregiously simplistic and fallacious reasoning. I don't know if it's 'Krunning-Dugars', but it's for damn certain 'Simpleton-Neilms'.

I definitely do "have a special insight nobody else here has", but it ain't the fungibility of money - more like common sense.

Yea... THAT is what ya'all said in Sep/Oct of 2016... Guess what happened next??

I made ya'all GORGE on humble pie, crow and sour grapes... :D

I'd forgotten about that one - they had the Texas National Guard shadowing the U.S. Military in case Obama was going to usher in our U.N. overlords or something like that.

The right wing are out to lunch and have taken the gullible with them. Let's hope the lesson that the young people in this country are learning is that education and voting are important.

Now remember, humanity discovered that money is a proxy for wealth thousands of years ago, so don't be reading this and thinking you need to tell us all about it - for the rest of us, this is elementary school stuff.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03078/the_history_of_mon_3078442c.jpg

Arizona is starting to be the Cuckoo State - home to the best conspiracy theories.

Remember "Jade Helm"?

Right-wing conspiracy theory bullshit... where keeping them stupid and afraid is the name of the game. :)

Fortunately the rest of the world discovered this a few thousand years ago.

But since CRS is the poster child for Dunning-Krugers, he thinks he has special insight nobody else here has.

Sad!

Trump is The Once and Future Con.

Yes, sir. There's a reason I call him "Benedict Donald."

Orange is the New Orange. :)

Arizona is starting to be the Cuckoo State - home to the best conspiracy theories.

A-frakin-men to THAT!!! :D

Wealth has not been "distributed" since the last 'manna-from-heaven" episode.

Wealth cannot even BE distributed until it is first PRODUCED! The reason you cannot comprehend any of this is because you think of money as being wealth. Money is not wealth. Wealth is the potatoes and the grain and dairy products my neighbors produce, it is the vehicles produced in TN, and the oranges and grapefruit grown in CA and FL, and the steel produced wherever.

After wealth is produced, it can be exchanged for money, and then the gov't can confiscates part of it and distribute (or re-distribute) that, but until you guys grasp those alien concepts, you'll NEVER understand how the real world works.

SO dead on ballz accurate, it's scary!!!

You make such a strong case that I suggest you upgrade "rob Peter to pay Paul" to "rape, strangle and dismember Peter to pay off Paul."

Trump is The Once and Future Con.

DH-

Are you ever going to update that websiite you own and link to?

https://tinyurl.com/ycx8uk98

Wow... two Santa Clauses. This seems to keep working decade after decade because the GOP keep their pathetic ilk seething in their hatred about "the others." They whine about crime and the poor when they and their ilk have higher rates of crime and are poor. They're too busy wanting to stick it to "the others" while never recognizing the fact that it's them.

NyPOET is spinning in his PROW grave... :D

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

How can Ted Cruz be an Evangelical Christian when he lies so much and is so dishonest?

6:03 AM - 12 Feb 2016

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/698115252844634112

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump

I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me.

10:38 AM - 7 May 2015

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/596338364187602944

It was always a con.

But, but ... "the producers" ... "the rich pay almost all the taxes" ... "socialism!!!" ... "class warfare" ... "all lives matter" ... "telling it like it is" ... "we can be rich someday" ... "well the rich are on our side" ... "baby killers" ... "Hillary!!!" ... "dark people killing us" .... "we'd better get out and vote Republican"

It is the same as it ever was. The sheep are given talking points "producers" to deflect the short term realization that the top 5% are getting all the increases in wealth, then the propaganda kicks in on the social issues to get the big rip off away from the front pages, then the fear and hate kicks in to get the sheep to the polls.

This is an existential battle between the educated and the fearful ... we aren't going to assuage the fear, so we'd better get the educated out to vote.

I think you should change the or's to and's.

Salon has a great read on how the republicons have been playing their game...

https://tinyurl.com/ycx8uk98

While it might not be a "proper fairy-tale ending," it has escaped no one with basic sight that indeed "the Emperor has no clothes."

It's all a con; he never did. :)